§ 382 — Prohibition of the slaughter of race horses and race horse breeding stock

§ 382. Prohibition of the slaughter of race horses and race horse\nbreeding stock. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it shall\nbe unlawful for any person, corporation, association, or other entity to\nslaughter or have another person, corporation, association, or other\nentity slaughter a horse for a commercial purpose that such person,\ncorporation, association or other entity knows to have been a race horse\nor race horse breeding stock.\n 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it shall be unlawful\nfor any person, corporation, association, or other entity who owns or is\nin the process of taking ownership of a race horse or race horse\nbreeding stock to import, export, sell, offer to sell or barter,\ntransfer, purchase, possess, transport, deliver, or receive, or direct\nanother person to import, export, sell, offer to sell or barter,\ntransfer, purchase, possess, transport, deliver, or receive a horse that\nsuch person, corporation, association or other entity knows to be a race\nhorse or race horse breeding stock with the intent of slaughtering or\nhaving another person, corporation, association, or other entity\nslaughter such race horse or race horse breeding stock.\n 3. For the purposes of this section:\n (a) "race horse" shall mean:\n (i) a thoroughbred horse which meets or ever met the standards to be\neligible to race at any track licensed to operate pursuant to article\ntwo of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law; or\n (ii) a standardbred horse which meets or ever met the standards to be\neligible to race at any track licensed to operate pursuant to article\nthree of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law;\n (b) "race horse breeding stock" shall mean: any mare or stallion used,\nor intended to ever be used, to produce a foal that is intended to be\nused as a race horse as defined in this subdivision, as well as the foal\nbred by such a mare or stallion.\n (c) "slaughter" shall mean the intentional killing, or having another\nkill, a race horse or race horse breeding stock, if that person knows\nthat the purpose of such killing is using any part of such race horse or\nrace horse breeding stock for human or animal consumption. Nothing\nherein shall prohibit a person from lawful disposition of a deceased\nrace horse or race horse breeding stock or any part of such horse or\nstock.\n 4. (a) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a\nfine of not more than one thousand dollars per each race horse or race\nhorse breeding stock for an individual person and up to two thousand\nfive hundred dollars per each race horse or race horse breeding stock\nfor a corporation, association or other entity, for the first violation.\nAny subsequent violation shall be punishable by a fine of up to two\nthousand dollars per each race horse or race horse breeding stock for an\nindividual person and up to five thousand dollars per each race horse or\nrace horse breeding stock for a corporation, association, or other\nentity.\n (b) A violation of this section will subject any New York state gaming\ncommission license to the provisions of section two hundred twenty or\nthree hundred nine of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law.\n 5. (a) Any and all fines collected pursuant to a violation involving a\nthoroughbred horse shall be remitted to the New York state thoroughbred\nbreeding and development fund established pursuant to section two\nhundred fifty-two of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law,\nand shall be deposited by that fund into a dedicated account to be spent\nby the fund solely for the purpose of the care of retired race horses,\nconsistent with paragraph h of subdivision two of section two hundred\nfifty-four of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law.\n (b) Any and all fines collected pursuant to a violation involving a\nstandardbred horse or race horse breeding stock shall be remitted to the\nagriculture and New York state horse breeding development fund\nestablished pursuant to section three hundred thirty of the racing,\npari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, and shall be deposited by that\nfund into a dedicated account, to be spent by the fund solely for the\npurpose of the care of retired race horses, consistent with paragraph j\nof subdivision one of section three hundred thirty-two of the racing,\npari-mutuel wagering and breeding law.\n 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each and every owner of\na race horse that has competed in New York state on or after January\nfirst, two thousand twenty-two, or any other horse used for breeding\npurposes in New York state on or after January first, two thousand\ntwenty-two, shall not be liable for any violation of this section with\nrespect to such horse if such owner can demonstrate that there is proper\ndocumentation of a transfer of ownership to a party with no financial or\nfamilial relationship to the owner.\n 7. Legal liability under this section for any race horse shall be\nlimited to the last individual or corporation in the chain of ownership\nof said horse, as determined by notice to the breed registry as\nreferenced in section two hundred twenty-five of the racing, pari-mutuel\nwagering and breeding law for that breed or other documentation of\nownership. Further, the purchaser or seller of any registered race horse\nsold by a New York state resident or corporation who is a member of such\nregistry shall be required to provide notification of said sale to the\nrelevant breed registry in order to document ownership and protect\nprevious owners from liability under this section.\n 8. The commissioner shall develop a program, in cooperation with the\ngaming commission, New York state thoroughbred breeding and development\nfund, and the agriculture and New York state horse breeding development\nfund to disseminate information about the provisions of this section to\nhorse owners, sellers, buyers and transporters including, but not\nlimited to farmers, recreational horse businesses, livestock and horse\ndealers, horse rescue and aftercare organizations, renderers, animal\nfood producers, and any other organizations or businesses potentially\nimpacted by this section.\n 9. All corporations, associations, or other entities offering for sale\nor purchase, thoroughbred or standardbred horses, including livestock\nauction houses must have signage conspicuously posted, which shall\nreference that it is illegal to sell or transfer a thoroughbred or\nstandardbred race horse or breeding stock for the purposes of slaughter\nand explicitly state the penalties associated with the violation of this\nsection. Such signage shall also reference that it is illegal to sell or\ntransfer a horse to be slaughtered for the purpose of human or animal\nconsumption and explicitly state the penalties associated with the\nviolation of section three hundred eighty-five of this article. Such\nsignage shall occur no later than ninety days after the effective date\nof this subdivision.\n